Medical portal describes more than carpal tunnel syndrome
Private health-care provider Medicover has launched a new bilingual internet portal, the first of its kind in Poland.
Medicover launched www.medicover.pl in 1997. At the beginning, the site only featured information about the company. Now, Medicover has added more interactive services on all aspects of health care, from personal medical matters to health care reform. "Our internet project developed from (links to) a few pages to about 1,000," said Paul Lenz, CEO at Medicover Group. "But that is only the beginning by the end of this year there will be (links to) a few thousand pages."
According to Michael Fotheringham, IT international director at Medicover, the site will be very interactive, even allowing patients the ability to schedule medical appointments at its clinic online. And that is only the beginning, he said. "We hope to include secure functionality whereby a company can log on through a secure server, and update their employees' data online, he said. "At the moment, this is done manually and for larger companies can take some time."
Individuals will also soon be able to sign up for the firm's services through the site. But the site's content will remain open to the public and not restricted to Medicover's 40,000 members, Fotheringham said. "Access to qualified health information should be available to everyone who needs it," he said. Medicover will also introduce regular chat sessions about health care issues and include non-members in some of these discussions.
"This is an easily available and trustworthy source of information," said Barbara Dworak-Bator, the editor in chief at health monthly Magazyn Medycyny Rodzinnej.
According to Fotheringham, there are more than 10,000 medical internet sites in the world. "The issue today is not the volume of health information, but rather how people can tell the difference between good and bad," he said.
Dworak-Bator said she keeps a close eye on medical information available online. A plethora of medical sites exist, she said, but it is often hard for individuals to evaluate them. "Everybody wants to launch a web site," she said, "but there is no institution to verify them."
Medicover's site does its best to do that, and offers a wide choice in its own online menu. "Health and Safety" gathers information on how to avoid danger and conduct a safe everyday life. "Family Health" divides information into four sections, for men, women, children and seniors. There is also a chance to browse through 50 common diseases their causes, symptoms, diagnoses and typical treatments.
"The site doesn't encourage people to treat on their own," Dworak-Bator said. "It just provides them with information."
A competitor, Centrum Medyczne Damiana, has been offering basic information about its company at www.damian.com.pl. Its patients can also make appointments online, and the company plans to develop its service further. "We want to include a lot of information regarding preventative medicine," said Robert Blaszczyk, the firm's marketing director.
